climate and comms

1. Computing Everywhere With the continued advancement in smart-phone technology, Gartner assesses that an increased emphasis on serving the needs of the mobile user in diverse contexts and environments, as opposed to focusing on devices alone. Gartner posits that smart-phones and wearable devices are part of a broader computing offering to include connected screens in the workplace and in public spaces. User experience design will be of critical importance.    Health care applications in particular will proliferate. 2. The Internet of Things (IoT) The Internet of Things will continue to expand, propelled by the ubiquity of user-oriented computing. Gartner posits that this will be replicated both in industrial and in operational contexts, as it will be the focus of digital business products and processes. Embedding technology more deeply will create touch points for users everywhere. This will form the foundation of digital business.    There are now over 7 bill

It is a little known fact that the Internet is one of the largest contributors of carbon emissions.    ( http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/aug/12/carbon-footprint-internet ) Today 9/21/2014 [1] is a significant date in the climate change calendar,   being the largest climate march in history ( http://peoplesclimate.org )   It is a day when awareness of the impact of global warming will perhaps reach a critical mass and the decision-makers will finally wake up.   How many more Katrina’s,   Sandy’s or Haiyan’s will it take to shock the hardcore minority ( denialist’s and their patrons – i.e. the fossil fuel industry )   into realising that it can no longer be   “business as usual”.    I work in the Internet industry – building data centres.    Our work is in Africa where the potential (negative) impact of climate change could be the highest of any region in the World.    As local weather patterns change, such as the decline in rainfall in the Sahel (particularly Sudan)

I saw an article the other day headlined   “ Why saying ‘ seven of the ten fastest growing economies are in Africa ‘ carries no real meaning” [1] (By Morten Jerven writing on africanarguments.org).    Not one to be put off by such one eyed perspectives – I thought I should read it.    Always get the ‘other ‘ perspective is what   I believe and advocate,   and so I did.    What followed was a clinical analysis of GDP’s, growth rates, inflation rates and the like, indicators, so oft leant upon by economists to underpin their arguments.   Basically a dismissing of the current African economic turnaround as being statistically misleading and so on.    But all was not bad – there was a concession at the end that   ‘ the evidence does not yet readily provide us with an answer ’.   Had it been included in the title as a rider, perhaps one would have read the article with a little less disregard for the approach of the author ( an associate professor at the Simon Fraser University for Inter